Celtic manager Ronny Deila says that under-fire striker Leigh Griffiths will not be stripped of penalty duties after missing a crucial one in Friday's 1-1 draw at Hamilton Academical, in comments published by The Herald.

The 25-year-old scored and missed a spot-kick in the stalemate, with his second effort bringing a superb stop from goalkeeper Michael McGovern on 65 minutes.

Despite the Bhoys playing with 10 men at the time, after Dedryck Boyata picked up a first-half red card, it seemed as if the botched penalty would not prove costly - but it did.

Seventeen minutes from the end, second-half substitute Eamonn Brophy equalised in fine fashion as the hosts spared their blushes by salvaging a hard-earned point.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers marksman has 25 Scottish Premiership goals to his name this season, and Deila believes that the hitman will bounce back as a result of his disappointment.

“Leigh missing the penalty isn’t a concern for me because I know he’ll continue to score goals,” the Norwegian is quoted as saying by Herald Scotland.

“We had three big chances in the second half against Hamilton at 1-0. If we got to 2-0 then it becomes very hard to catch us again. It was disappointing. There’s competition to take the penalties, but Leigh is a good penalty taker. Normally he scores and he scored one on Friday.

“When you have a striker who has scored over 30 goals this season he should be capable of doing that. He’s shown it before. The penalty could have been a bit lower, but it was a good save. He’s a confident boy. He’ll be hungry for the next game now.”

The reigning SPL champions and current leaders were let off the hook by second-placed Aberdeen, who missed the chance to reduce the gap to four points after being held to a 1-1 draw by St Johnstone on Saturday afternoon.

Celtic are back in action on March 2 for the visit of Dundee FC.

Shane Callaghan

Shane is a Dublin-based sports writer who swapped the football pitch for the press box upon learning that he was better with a pen than with a round bit of leather. Prior to joining HITC, Shane enjoyed spells with Sports Mole and Goal.com among others, while he was also club reporter for Irish football club Drogheda United.